sb. pl. Zool. [f. L. crāni-um and Gr. κρᾱνί-ον, with respective suffixes, as in pinnata, πτερωτά. Introduced in the latter form by Hæckel, but generally used in the former by English naturalists.] A primary division or branch of the VERTEBRATA (q.v.), including those which possess a brain and skull, i.e., the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibia, and Fishes.
1878. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 413. In the Craniota [it] gives rise, by concrescence and differentiation, to a head.
1881. Athenæum, 15 Jan., 98/2. We should have liked to have seen a marked distinction made between … the lampreys and the remainder of the Craniota.
